From 1992-1995 I played in an eclectic folk-rock quartet called Chutes & Ladders. Led by the wife and husband team of Alice Despard and Stuart Chandler, we played for about 3 years around Washington DC, doing mostly originals. Drummer and just human being extraordinaire Evan Pollock rounded things out. My role was mostly jack of all trades on the instruments (guitar and bass usually). I would say the proportion was about 50-40-10 for songs, with Stu having the majority, followed by Alice and then me. Though we did for a while play an Evan composition live, "Ugly Is In," so maybe that's more like 50-40-9-1.
In general, the band at the time was a bit of a mixed bag. Alice had gone through an alt-rock career leading a rockier band (Hyaa!) and was at the time getting more roots-rock. So her songs were pretty well formed when they came into the band. Stu and I shared a love of Lou Reed and Tom Waits, but he was really a painter more than a player, so he would come with fairly simple songs (construction-wise) but with some lovely lyrics and ideas. So the gang of us would help flesh them out. My songs were kinda offbeat for the group, and I was still looking for a musical identity, so sometimes I threw in some covers and basically had about 2-3 songs total. And Evan just supported it all with sublime percussion/drumming and background vocals.
In about 1994 we put some songs down at a 4-track studio, so uploaded are the results. Just for the sake of completeness, I wanted to put them up for anyone who was curious. Credits are as follows:
1. Stop, Look, Listen (Alice Despard)
Alice: lead vocals, acoustic guitar; Stu: bass, backing vocals; Me: lead electric guitar, backing vocals; Evan: drums, backing vocals.
2. She Wore Red Clay (Stuart Chandler)
Stu: lead vocals, acoustic guitar; Me: bass, backing vocals; Alice: guitar, backing vocals; Evan: Drums, backing vocals.
3. Spare Change (Phillip Raskin)
Me: lead vocals, acoustic guitar; Alice: bass, backing vocals; Stu: electric guitar, backing vocals; Evan: drums, backing vocals.
4. Tarantella (Alice Despard)
Alice: lead vocals, acoustic guitar; Me: bass, backing vocals; Stu: percussion, backing vocals; Evan: drums, backing vocals.
5. Had to Call (Alice Despard)
Alice: lead vocals, acoustic guitar; Stu: bass, backing vocals; Me: slide guitar, backing vocals; Evan: drums, backing vocals.
6. Back Together Again (Stuart Chandler)
Stu: lead vocals, trumpet; Alice: bass; Me: acoustic guitar; Evan: drums.
7. Glory (Alice Despard)
Alice: lead vocals, acoustic guitar; Stu: bass, backing vocals; Me: electric lead guitar, backing vocals; Evan: drums, backing vocals.
8. Rivertown (Stuart Chandler)
All: Vocals
Overall, it's nice to still have this, though of course lots of places where one can cringe or stress oneself out. I do still think a couple of the songs hold up, and am still happy with some guitar parts ("Stop, Look") as well as the bass playing on "Red Clay" and "Tarantella." Alice does still record and perform in the DC area (http://wampus.com/alice-despard/) though she sold off her long-time club (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080400575.html -- and might I say, it's really easy to get gigs when a bandmate owns a club). Stu does more art -- and hip-hop dancing -- these days though he did carry on the band for a few years in various forms. Evan is everyone's favorite drummer in the Washington DC area and still teaches and plays.